History

The Call of the Wall

What if there was a blank wall?  Then all of a sudden:  Street art!  Graffiti!  Spray paint us interested.

Book:  Banksy Graffitied Walls and Wasn’t Sorry, by Fausto Gilberti. Talk about timing:  the minute my son and I finished this informative book (with its fabulously whacko illustrations) – LIKE MAGIC –  a new Banksy statue appears in London!   We are in awe of Banksy’s nerviness, we are aligned with Banksy’s message, we now have a Banksy poster up on the wall.

Book:  Hey, Wall, by Susan Verde and John Parra.  This quick reading, almost sweet book clarifies the difference between graffiti and street art.  Excellent notes from both author and illustrator at conclusion of book.

– from the sarahknightwriter.com website

Website:  Graffiti on the Berlin Wall – we read through a simply excellent essay, “How Nikita Khrushchev Turned Berlin into a Happening Art Scene” on the sarahknightwriter.com website.  (HIGHLY RECOMMEND).  Superb, organized writing (with a comprehensive definition of graffiti).  After reading, we had maps out, looking at Germany after WWII.  We spent time considering the mean-spirited wall constructed around West Berlin in 1961.  Anyway, the “western” side of the wall ended up covered in graffiti….some of it still preserved.  SO INTERESTING.

Up close and personal:  Street Art in San Pedro, California – back in 2018, one of my best friends from UCLA days, Miss LynnDee, invited me to come see what was about to happen in her hometown of San Pedro:  the community was coming together to create a 2,000 foot mosaic mural (master-minded by artist Julie Bender) on a retaining wall that faced the Pacific Ocean.  Oh boy!  A completely fun day was spent in a ceramics lab (note my tiny tile effort, obviously critical to the wall’s artistic statement).  The mural was completed in 2021.  What fun to share photos of this San Pedro treasure with my son.  He was so focused when viewing the mosaic interpretations of fish, sea birds, and boats.  He is familiar with the concept of mosaics from our study of the Vatican (see “Holy Zucchetto!” from September 2015 if ya want proof).

     

Because it’s not all about the call of the wall:

Our Tom Gates Marathon –  My son and I have our grin machines turned on if we are ending an evening’s study with a dip into a Tom Gates book.  Over the years, we have read Liz Pichon’s Tom Gates books here and there, but we decided to give these books a serious re-read, starting with book 1, The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, straight through to book 24 (and hopefully, book 25), no stopping.  Here is what we like about the Tom Gates books:  

the cast of characters 
(who drains us the most?  Tom’s sister Delia? Uncle Kevin? Marcus Meldrew?)
– the pickles Tom gets himself into – the oodles of doodles – the British vernacular –

So the marathon has begun.  We have finished book 1 and are half way through book 2 (Tom Gates – Excellent Excuses).

Story Problem –  The local diner is hosting a sidewalk chalk art experience for kindergarteners.  The diner will provide chalk, complimentary refreshments (their famous “not too tart” lemonade), AND the diner has contracted with multi-talented town photographer, Miss Diane, to take photos of the sidewalk art, create a poster from said photos, and print up loads of copies that will eventually be available for sale – as an impulse buy – right next to the diner cash register.

The diner has budgeted $50 for their lemonade and $75 for the chalk.
The posters will cost $10 to print up and will sell for $15.

– How many posters will need to be sold to recoup the cost of the chalk and the lemonade?
A)  25     B)  50     C)  75     D)  100

– If 40 young ’uns participate in the sidewalk art experience, and all of their moms, 4 teachers, and 15 grandparents purchase a poster, how much profit will the diner see from the event?
A)  $40     B)  $59     C)  $170     D)  $295 (answers at bottom of post)

Orchestral Music – a Banksy soundtrack!  My son and I agreed that we would LOVE to accompany Banksy on a stealthy midnight art installation.  We did not agree on background music for for sneaking around with Banksy – 

  • My son picked The Pink Panther Theme, composed by Henry Mancini for the 1963 film.  Nominated for Academy Award for best original score (but lost to Mary Poppins).  Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky.

  • I picked Anitra’s Dance, from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875.  Sneaky and sly, fast tiptoeing.  (Oooooh!  Look at the intensity of Thomas Dausgaard, the conductor.  No wonder the performance is so A+!)

  • …but we both agreed that the boldness of Banksy’s art is well matched with Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, composed in 1942.  This particular video, featuring Leonard Bernstein as conductor, spots Mr. Copland seated in the balcony.  (I shed tears.)

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  A)  25 and D) $295)

The Spring Academic Banquet

Oooooh!  The Spring Academic Banquet! – actually, we host an academic banquet every night up in my son’s room.  Here is our basic template, gussied up to welcome spring – 

The hors d’oeuvre platter:  this past week, academic thinking mode was activated with mini warm-up exercises, along the line of:
– a word scramble (FLIDAFOD = DAFFODIL)
– iPad keyboard practice (sprout, trout, about, shout, clout, pout, grout)
– practicing: “>”(larger than) and “<“ (smaller than)
– matching:  composer and composition
– tracking the travels of Breton (our favorite shark) on ocearch.org
– ooohing and ahhhing over photos we took to celebrate my son’s 200th volunteer day at the local nursery. 

The main course:  two hearty, satisfying topics: 

– The Physics Book, 250 milestones in physics, arranged chronologically by Clifford A. Pickover, published in 2011. Oh my gosh – I never thought we would be reading about physics and bless our hearts, we are pretty much not comprehending most of the entries – AND YET, we are LOVING THIS BOOK!   Each “milestone” gets a two page spread;  one page for an illustration/photograph and one page for historical references and technical, bewildering explanations.  We skip milestones that are too confusing for the likes of us (the majority of milestones) but – oh! – the feeling of elation when we find a topic we can grasp.

The sort of milestones we have skipped:
The Antikythera Mechanism
Coulomb’s Law of Electrostatics
Soliton

The sort of milestones that fill us with wonder:
the physics of the boomerang – dynamite – the hourglass – Ben Franklin’s kite
the acceleration of falling objects – X-rays – the stethoscope
the thermos – neon signs – Schrödinger’s cat (which we are familiar with thanx to BBT)

Here is something cool we learned: The first Nobel Prize (funded by the invention of dynamite, 1866) ever awarded went to Wilhelm Röntgen for his original work with X-rays (1895). 
This is the book we can’t wait to open every night!

– Polar Explorers – for Kids, Maxine Snowden.  We have just completed part one (Arctic explorers), and are geared up to start part 2 (Antarctic explorers).  Our globe and compass are out every night so we can trace routes attempted by the explorers.  We are now REALLY familiar with:
– the concept of the Northwest Passage 
– the contentious race to the North Pole 
– the difference between the geographic North Pole and the magnetic north pole
– our favorite explorer:  Fridtjof Nansen (brilliant, thoughtful, honest, focused) 
– our least favorite explorer:  Robert Peary (apparently a self centered #$%&+*&%$#)

The salad course:  a Farmer Brown story problem involving veggies necessary for perking up a bowl of tossed greens:

– Farmer Brown is teaching a gardening class the first Saturday of every spring month  (March, April, and May).  Students will be given gardening gloves, clay pots, potting soil and will learn how to plant radishes, cucumbers and tomatoes from seeds.  Farmer Brown figures to spend $15 on supplies per student and has priced the course at $25.
– If 15 eager beginner gardeners sign up for each class, how much profit will Farmer Brown realize? 
A)  $10     B)  $150     C)  $375     D)  $450
– How many students will Farmer Brown prepare for if 20% of the radish/cuke/tomato students decide to enroll in his “Let’s Grow Bell Peppers” summer class?
A)  9  students     B)  15 students     C)  20 students     D)  45 students
(answers at bottom of post)

The dessert:  the icing on our spring banquet cake:

We just finished “Grandpa’s Great Escape”, by David Walliams.   A lot of full throttle wackiness (story AND illustrations) in this book: can friendships, bravery, and a special relationship between a grandfather and his grandson triumph over the mean, the greedy, and the cheaters? (Of course they can, but hold onto your hat, cuz we found this book to be a roller coaster ride from start to finish.)  To top it off (icing on the cake), we learned a bit about the pride of Britain’s Royal Air Force of WWII:  the Spitfire!

Classical Music for a Spring Banquet – 

“Spring”, from the “Victorian Kitchen Garden Suite”, composed by Paul Reade.  We learned that “The Victorian Kitchen Garden” was a British TV series, produced in 1987 (winning an award for best TV music in 1991).  The short recording we listened to features Emma Johnson (on clarinet), of the original theme soundtrack.  Perfect for spring, with bird song scattered throughout the piece –

“Appalachian Spring”, music composed by Aaron Copland for Martha Graham in 1944.  We like the weirdly named “Doppio Movimento” section (yes, we looked this up, we understand what doppio movimento means, but we still think it is a weird name), a respectful interpretation of the Shaker hymn, “Simple Gifts”, accented with with regal fanfare and waves of majestic strength.  We listen for the spring raindrops (or is it the clip clop of horses’ hooves?).  We love this piece –

“Spring Song”, composed in 1841 and found in Book 5 of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Songs without Words”.  We wonder whether Herr M would be amused that this piece would feature prominently in loads of cartoons (most notably, “Spring Song” was the central music theme of the 1939 “Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur” animated cartoon short).  Oh, the royalties he missed out on!

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  D)  $450 and A)  9 students)

A Tree of Good Wishes

Every year we hang antique holiday postcards all over our Christmas tree.  Real postcards from back in the day when a 1 cent stamp covered postage (early 1900’s).  Real postcards with holiday messages displaying splendid cursive penmanship.  Over the years, we’ve loved how the vintage illustrations dress up the tree, but this year my son and I decided to actually read what was written on the postcards:

The majority of the cards:  Wishing happiness! – Wishing good health! 
Wishing many good Xmas wishes! – Wishing a joyful Xmas! – The kindest of wishes! 

MOST POETIC POSTCARD MESSAGE goes to “Charity” (1908), who squeezed into the small writing space:
“Each year to ancient friendships adds a ring. As to an oak, and precious more and more. Without deservingness or help of ours.  They grow, and silent, wider-spread each year. Their unbought ring of shelter or of shade.”  (Either we are too immature to appreciate this or perhaps this is a secret message written in code, but Charity, wherever you are:  CHEERS!).  

MOST UNIQUE CHRISTMAS CARD MESSAGE was certainly from Mattie to Albert (1909):  “Received the chickens – all O.K.”.  Apparently Miss Mattie was not given to effusiveness.  (Effusiveness:  new vocabulary word for my son).

December Reading –

Mrs. Coverlet’s Magicians:   My dad first read Mary Nash’s clever Christmas themed book to my sister and me when it arrived via “The Weekly Reader Children’s Book Club” back in 1962.  I remember asking my dad to re-read the page that listed the names of the household’s kittens:  Mary Mouse, George Soup, Ernest Waffle, Sally Egg, and the baddest kitten, John Napkin.  This book struck a chord with me, so here I am decades later, reading it every single December to my son.  And we are reading the very same precious 1962 edition (although I do have 3 backups for just in case).

Dogtown:  co-authored by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko.  This book is a charmer, written from the viewpoint of a dog who has found herself in the local dog shelter (“Dogtown”).  It eases the reader into looking beyond diversity and disability and focusing on real issues (forging friendships/finding a “forever home”).  There were tears when we read the final page (from me, not my son), and my son was glad to see the sequel, “Mouse and His Dog” under the Christmas tree.

December Reading Comprehension – My son smiles big when he sees a new Clem and Clyde reading comp worksheet.  I smile big when I am writing a new Clem and Clyde reading comp worksheet:

Story Problem from the Local Diner –

During December, the diner adds their rich, creamy, “town-famous” hot cocoa to the menu.  Each mug of chocolate deliciousness is topped off with 5 mini marshmallows.  If the diner buys 16-ounce bags of mini marshmallows, and each bag contains 700 mini marshmallows, how many bags will the diner need if they predict serving 3,000 mugs of hot chocolate this December?

a)  5 bags     b)  22 bags    c)  300 bags    d)   700 bags (answer at bottom of post)

Our 2025 Christmas Music Obsession –

Somehow, we came across John Rutter’s “Shepherd’s Pipe Carol” and became enchanted with the lavish harmonies and unexpected rhythms. We found out what a shepherd’s pipe is (lots of definitions: recorder, wooden flute, pan pipes) and we read that composer/lyricist John Rutter, was inspired by Menotti’s one act opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors (first performed in 1951) (so we read a synopsis of Amahl and the Night Visitors).  Rutter wrote this carol in 1966 when he was an undergraduate at University of Cambridge.  We just love this piece!

Finally, looking toward the new year –

Another story problem from the Local Diner:  The diner has set up a New Year’s Resolution bulletin board next to the cashier’s counter.  The board will be up all year.  Anyone can tack up a card with their New Year’s Resolution.  As soon as a goal has been reached, a giant gold star sticker will be put on the card.  

– For example, Miss Olive has made a resolution to clean up her dining room, 
which has turned into a warehouse of clutter.  As soon as Miss Olive’s dining room looks again like a dining room, she gets to stick a gold star on her resolution card. –  

To further encourage success, the diner will serve up a hot fudge sundae to anyone presenting their gold starred resolution card!
– If 250 customers tack up resolutions and at the end of the year there are gold stars on 40% of the resolution cards, how many people did NOT fulfill their New Year’s Resolution?
a)  40  people  b)  60 people     c)  100 people     d)  150 people
– If a hot fudge sundae costs the diner $3, how much money will they have spent on the customers who fulfilled their New Year’s resolution?
a)  $30     b)  $120     c)  $300     d)  $750 (answer at bottom of post)

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
Story problem answers:  b)  22 bags of marshmallows and d)  150 people and c)  $300 

Newfangled

The past few weeks my son and I time-traveled back 100+ years and placed ourselves in a general population confronted by such newfangled shockers as – 

– the paintings of Pablo Picasso – 
– a WOMAN in the USA President’s cabinet – 
– Frank Lloyd Wright’s radical approach to home design –

While most of the newfangled ideas of this time frame enjoyed short-lived popularity (we read about hippo farming, teaching science by dance, and I think, our favorite: the coat parachute), Picasso, Perkins, and Wright were game changers –

  
Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973).  We loved 100 Pablo Picassos – an engaging and actually fun introduction to Pablo Picasso and his many distinct painting styles, authored by Mauricio Velasquez de Leon, illustrated by Violet Lemay.  The book has a young person’s vibe to it, while maintaining respectable reference book standards.  It’s in our basket for another read through.

Frances Perkins (1880 – 1965).  The Only Woman in the Photo by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Alexandra Bye.  We learned how the eminently qualified, workers rights advocate Frances Perkins came to be the first woman in a President’s cabinet, serving as Secretary of Labor for FDR (1933 – 1945). A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, which her grandmother Mary Lyon (chemist and educator) had founded (!), Perkins was instigator of groundbreaking workplace and fire safety laws for the state of New York.  As Secretary of Labor,  triumphs included the concept of a minimum wage and the Social Security Act.

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 – 1959).  Thanks to Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids – His Life and Ideas, by Kathleen Thorene-Thomsen, my son and I are starting to recognize signature components of Frank Lloyd Wright houses:  nature driven, organic, long horizontal lines, geometric shapes, and at all times blending into the landscape.  (Note to self:  FLW never built house with basements because he felt that anything stored in a basement should be thrown away.)  The book also references his splendid building commissions, our favorite being the Guggenheim Museum, (the shape based on a common garden snail’s shell). Plans began in 1946, building was completed in late 1959, facing controversy every step of the way. (sigh)

Easy story problem:  Farmer Brown needs a new truck –  

Farmer Brown needs a new vehicle for, you know, farm stuff.  Before he visited local truck dealerships he made a lengthy list of “wants and dislikes”.  Frankly, some of the newfangled vehicle “improvements” make him crazy.  Among other things, he does NOT want to be distracted by information projected onto his windshield and is it too much to ask for a CD player in the cab?  Anyway, Farmer Brown has taken test drives at 6 of the 8 vehicle dealerships within a 10 mile range of his ranch.  What percentage of these dealerships have not yet had the pleasure of dealing with Farmer Brown’s list of “wants and dislikes”?

A)  6%     B)  10%     C)  20%     D)  25%     (answer at bottom of post)

Good old fashioned fiction (nothing newfangled here) – 

Hope was Here, written by Joan Bauer.  This wonderful book made us consider the possibilities of non-traditional  families, diner waitressing as an art, taking action against corrupt politicians.  We both enjoyed the book and were sort of sad to have it end.

The Further Adventures of Miss Petitfour, by Anne Michaels, illustrations by Emma Block.  If possible, this book is more fun than its predecessor, The Adventures of Miss Petitfour.  Clever way with vocabulary, clever story lines, clever cats.  Write more, Ms. Michaels.

Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh.  We heaved a big “oh, brother!” when we learned that members of a school district in Ohio tried to ban this book in 1983, on grounds that the protagonist (Harriet) was a bad role model (spying/talking back/cursing).  Meanwhile, WE are enjoying the many layers of this book, and I am pretty sure that my son can read about spying on neighbors without actually deciding to spy on neighbors.  However, as he is non-verbal, I would sort of be pleased if my son “talked back” or “cursed”. 

Classical Music:  back to the newfangledness  – we listened to music that certainly fell into the “new and NOT improved” category according to critics of the day (late 1800’s – early 1900’s).  Music that Picasso, Frances Perkins, and Frank Lloyd Wright may well have been aware of –

Jeux de Vagues (Play of the Waves) from Claude Debussy’s 3-movement composition of 1904, La Mer.  Initially met with confusion, maybe because there seems to be no introduction or conclusion?  It is as if Debussy has transported us into the middle of a mildly turbulent ocean, capturing in music the movement of  wind and water.  My son and I like listening for the comforting sounds of the harp woven in throughout this piece.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat major, movement 3. Sergei Prokofiev premiered this piece in 1911 and although there were some who could recognize its brilliance, the general reaction was, “THE IMPERTINENCE!”.  And consider this:  Prokofiev played this piece for a competition, reasoning that the jury would be unable to judge whether he was playing well or not.  My son and I haven’t really got a grasp on this brisk paced, marching, squeaking, tantruming, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink whirlwind.  For us, even 114 years after its premiere, it remains newfangled (but we are intrigued).

Les Bulles de Savon (The Soap Bubbles), from Georges Bizet’s Jeux d’Enfants suite of 1871.  This short, abrupt (soap bubbles popping?), adorable piece for “piano with four hands” sparkles with sassy, clearly discordant tones.  As discordant and sassy as this piece is, it was embraced, not criticized, by its first audiences….maybe because it was part of a suite for (discordant and sassy) children. We love this piece.

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answer:  D)  25%)

Down the Rabbit Hole

This post is a bit different from my usual efforts.  We got side-tracked.  We went down the rabbit hole and this is how it happened.

First – In early August, I flew to San Francisco to spend a few days with a favorite family member (a postdoc at UCSF/we are ridiculously proud/his apartment is chaos).  Anyway, as we trekked around the hilly city we kept passing loads of friendly people decked out in tie-dyed shirts, emanating Eau de Weed, drawn to San Francisco that very weekend for the “60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead” festival.  Deadheads!  Well!  Interesting!

So then I thought, maybe I should put together a study unit on the hippie/flower child era to share with my son.

So then, to get things going, I procured a book that captured the vibes of the three day art and music festival that rocked the summer of 1969:  Woodstock, edited by Mike Evans and Paul Kingsbury.  Well organized information paired with intriguing photographs. (It is going to take us a long time to work through this book cuz a lot of the printing is done in what appears to be font size: 1 point.)  If it has to do with Woodstock, it is in this book:  the lead up, the venue choice, the sound system, the musicians, the lack of food concessions, the parking nightmare, the rain, the mud, etc.  Bottom line:  my son is in rapt attention mode when this book is opened.  So far, our favorite entries:

  • the Woodstock poster, an iconic image of the counterculture.  Graphic artist Arnold Skolnick was given the project on a Thursday and his design was due the following Monday.  He delivered.  (This prompted a mini discussion with my son about trusting your instincts when time is short. Not really sure this sunk in.)
  • the personal reflections of the performers, most of whom remember being quite nervous about performing for such a large audience (400,000 people.  That is kind of a lot).  They delivered.

So then, to enhance our immersion into the counterculture, we re-read (maybe for our 5th time, but now on high alert for the hippie nuances) Gordon Korman’s Schooled, and my son listened to (for at least the 100th time) the broadway show, Hair (1968), during nightly trampoline time.

So then, back to Woodstock:  after we pinpointed the Woodstock location on our map (upstate New York), we crossed the country to learn about the San Francisco-hippie era relationship, reading through the stunning Above & Across San Francisco book, edited by Sam Landers and Michelle Fitzgerald.  We really didn’t learn anything about the hippie era, but we were captivated by the collection of photographs showing the many best sides of San Francisco.

So then I thought, might we desire to spend a bit of time musing over the CRAZY fog that teases San Francisco?  News to us:  the fog has been named Karl.  We read Karl the Fog, written by Karl himself!  Loads of fab fog fotos accompanied by Karl’s sly way with words.

So then I thought, let’s get back to the hippie era:  since this study unit was inspired by the Grateful Dead festival, didn’t my son need to know a bit about this American rock band?  We Wikipediad up and read bits  about the Dead (and their technical catastrophes at Woodstock)/San Francisco/Jerry Garcia.  We listened and swayed back and forth to the welcoming, warm harmonies of  “Uncle John’s Band” (1969).  This piece is included on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”.

So then I thought, speaking of Jerry Garcia, maybe we should celebrate this unit with a scoop or two of “Cherry Garcia”, the Ben and Jerry ice cream flavor that  was developed in 1987.   Did my son love Cherry Garcia ice cream? YES.  Will Cherry Garcia be served on his upcoming birthday?  YES.

Lastly – I thought maybe we should learn something about the Ben and Jerry ice cream business, so we read The Sweetest Scoop, written by Lisa Robinson with the perfect accompanying watercolor illustrations by Stacy Innerst.  This book made us love Ben and Jerry’s even more.  Made us roll our eyes at a particular major corporation that blocked B and J ice cream from major grocery store chains for 4 years (FOR SHAME).

Yes, I would say we were officially down the rabbit hole:

San Francisco/Woodstock/Schooled/Hair
back to San Francisco/Karl the Fog/Grateful Dead
Cherry Garcia ice cream/the Ben and Jerry story

This was so much fun!
Welcome to the best part of my day,
– Jane BH

Indian Summer

Summertime studies for the likes of us – 

India, Incredible India, an A+ book by Jasbinder Bilan, content well matched with Nina Chakrabarti’s A+ graphics.  Clever premise:  a young lady, “Thara”, and Nanijee (nanijee – totally great word – translates to maternal grandmother), sort through grandmother’s treasure box, which is filled with souvenirs from every state and territory in India.  Page by page, we learned facts about each area and souvenir, then located the state/territory on the included map.  Every night, my son and I were drawn in by the exuberant illustrations positioned among splashes of vibrant colors.  We would read anything by this team.

While Mrs. Coverlet was Away, by Mary Nash.  I subject my son to this book every August because it is funny, imaginative, and champions the concept of self reliance.  Spoiler alert:  chapter 15 includes such a poetic passage, transporting us on a lazy summer’s day to the town swamp for turtle hunting.  The story gets us ready for our Mary Nash December read (Mrs. Coverlet’s Magicians). 

Nicolaus Copernicus, by Mariana Swift.  Oh, we do like this man (1473-1543) who had the nerve to propose the heliocentric theory.  Big shocker, Copernicus was not in the good graces of the church, but did he shy away from enthusiastically explaining his observations?  NO!  Role model!  Copernicus published his groundbreaking book, “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres”, at age 70.  Role model!

The Travel Book (a Lonely Planet Kids book).  We started this quirky fact book January 1st (with Canada) and finished August 1st (with Kiribati). One page every night, one country every night. (and BTW, I just took an online geography quiz and correctly identified 26 countries out of 30…before this unit I probably could have pinpointed about 9 countries).  Study unit highlights:

Welcome to our “Travel Book” Quirky Awards Ceremony:

Quirky Fashion Accessory Award, Grand Prize Winner:  Lithuania develops a signature perfume “Scent of Lithuania” (2011)
Quirky Global Citizen Award, Grand Prize Winner:  Global Seed Vault – entirely funded by Norway (officially started in 2008)
Quirky Destination Award, Grand Prize Winner:  An underwater post office! (Vanuatu)
Quirky Flag Design Award, tied for Grand Prize Winner :  A completely awesome hat (the symbol of Lesotho’s main ethnic group) is emblazoned on the Lesotho flag


Quirky Flag Design Award, tied for Grand Prize Winner:  Nauru is located just south of the equator and their flag is a model of brilliant simplicity.  See what I mean? 


Quirky Sob Story Category, Grand Prize Winner:  Awww, Nauru.  In the 1980’s, this country experienced a huge economic boom when they were able to sell  phosphate (used in fertilizers) (from scrapings of BIRD POOP).  Alas, they did such a good job of scraping the rocks of the guano, that there was no more phosphate to sell. Economy collapse. Heart breaker.  At least they still have that well designed flag.

A summer school cooking class story problem from the local diner – Chef Hank’s theme this year:  “It is all about the POTATO”.   The agenda:

Monday – twice baked potatoes
Tuesday – the secret of hash browned taters
Wednesday – Vichyssoise, co-hosted by the high school French teacher, Miss Suzette
Thursday – home-made potato chips and dips
Friday – cottage fries and the diner’s famous bar-b-que sauce

Well, who doesn’t want to improve their potato skills?  The diner kitchen has room for 15 students (and there is already a waiting list with 10 names on it).  This is a most popular class.

1)  If the class runs from 10 am until noon, how many hours will the students be in the diner’s school during the week?
2)  If the chef needs an hour of preparation before each class, for how many hours will the chef be paid at the conclusion of the week?  
3)  If the chef earns $20 an hour, how much will the chef earn for his potato week efforts?
4)  If students pay $40 tuition for the week long cooking class, will that be enough to pay the chef?
5)  If the supplies for the week run $100, will that be covered with the tuition income?
6)  If Miss Suzette is to be paid $20 an hour for 3 hours of work on the Wednesday, will that be covered by tuition? (answers at bottom of post)

Music to conclude the evening:  Impression from India

Ravi Shankar’s “Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra”, movement 3 (composed in 1971), performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andre Previn.  The first minute and a half of this piece is calmly exotic, then we are abruptly treated to the energetic, frenetic sound of the sitar.  What a thrill ride!  What a way to introduce my son to the sound of this complicated looking instrument!

The Beatles, “Norwegian Wood” (1965), the first piece of western pop music to use the sitar. George Harrison studied with Ravi Shankar and the unique sound of the instrument was woven into this piece in a decidedly tame (but decidedly lovely) manner.

Léo Delibes, “The Flower Duet” from his opera of 1883, Lakmé, which takes place in 19th century India.  No sitar in this at all, but oh, the harmonies in this simply dazzling duet.  I can find no evidence that Delibes ever traveled to India, so this might be a case of “write what you don’t really know”.  It is still stunning.

Welcome to the best part of my day!
 – Jane BH
(story problem answers:  1)  10 hours     2)  15 hours     3)  $300     4), 5), and 6) yes)

But I digress…

When my sister and I were kidlets, Saturday nights would find us accompanying our parents to a neighboring home, where the adults would play bridge for hours.  Well, this family’s house was a salute to the bland tones of beige (yawn) and sort of a tannish color (double, NAY! TRIPLE YAWN).  And other than a rather large set of ornately carved wooden salad servers – hung on the wall as an art piece – there was NOTHING interesting going on in this house.  Anyway, courtesy of these long nights in Neutralville, here is what beige means for me:  NO CREATIVITY HERE.  NO INDEPENDENT THINKING HERE.  LET’S PLEASE MOVE ON.

But I digress.  Our current book basket is filled with the work of wildly independent, creative thinkers.  Not a beige tone in the lot.

No Beige Here:  “The Adventures of Miss Petitfour” (book 1), written by ridiculously gifted Anne Michaels, charming illustrations by Emma Block.  This is a collection of short stories concerning Miss Petitfour and her 16 cats, but for us, this book is about the glorification of words.  Words we know but forget to use. (Example:  Miss Petitfour and team enter a FESTOONING competition, not a mere “decorating” competition.)  And the cats names!  Our favorite is Purrsia.  PURRSIA.  This might be the first book we have ever read spurred on solely by the author’s mastery of fanciful vocabulary.  I was thinking feline adventures might hold little appeal for my son, but when I asked him if he thought we should order book number 2, he immediately scribbled “YES”.

No Beige Here:  “The Boy Whose Head was Filled with Stars (A Life of Edwin Hubble)”, written by Isabelle Marinov, illustrated by Deborah Marcero.  Lately, my son and I have been comparing photos sent from the Hubble Space Telescope (launched 1990) and the JWST (launched 2021).  So, a BIG YES to a book about Edwin Hubble (1889 – 1953).  INSIDER SCOOP:  Hubble’s father did not want him to study astronomy.  WHOA.  REALLY?  INTERESTING.  Was he concerned that astronomy would not provide a steady income?  Was it for religious reasons?  Hmmm.  Anyway, Hubble acquiesced and taught high school, coaching a basketball team until his father died, then Hubble scrambled back to astronomy. 

And we learned that he “only” managed this: TWO NOTEWORTHY DISCOVERIES:
1) the universe is so much bigger than we thought (even during his studies, the brightest scholars thought the universe was “limited” to the Milky Way).
2) The universe is getting bigger all the time. 

The book concludes with a focused reflection from the author:  
“It is this cosmic perspective that I’ve tried to convey through Edwin’s story, a perspective that is lost on so many of our world’s leaders.  Planet Earth is nothing more than an infinitesimal fraction of a mote of dust in the vast cosmic tapestry.  Maybe one day, this realization will help us overcome our narrowness of perspective, which lies at the root of so many of our earthly problems?”

No Beige Here:  “Old School”, by Gordon Korman.  Oh, we do love Korman’s books (I think we have read “Schooled” 5 times).  In this book, middle schoolers experience becoming united for a cause, find surprising connections with senior citizens, and among other things, they learn about WWII code breakers/shuffleboard/the pleasures of a restorative cup of tea.  This was a thought provoking story that we looked forward to reading every night.   And my son learned the double meaning of the term, “old school”.

No Beige Here:  Reporting in on our around the world tour – 

We are still LOVING this unit, brought to us by the Lonely Planet Kids, “The Travel Book”  .  Since last post, we have journeyed around the Arabian peninsula,  (took a Wikipedia detour to learn where vast supplies of oil actually come from – not dinosaurs as we were thinking, but ancient fossilized mini marine life)(as loads of people know, just not us), have studied the STANS:  Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (we learned that “stan” means “land of”).  We are now heading toward Australia and Oceania.

Favorite new things we’ve learned:

Pakistan:  Jingle Trucks  (definitely NO BEIGE here!)

Jordan:   Royal Desert Forces (police) ride camels

Nepal:  We love this country’s flag (the 2 triangles symbolize the Himalayan mountains, and the 2 major religions – Hinduism and Buddhism)

Qatar:   Best in the good will category:  Qatar created the largest flag in 2013, then had it recycled into 200,000 book bags for school children distributed around 60 countries

Easy story problem from the Local Diner!  There’s a new Saturday night special at the Local Diner!  Date night calls for a bit of sophistication, so the diner is now serving table-side tossed salads!  Oh, the glamour!  What prompted this was that the diner’s chef’s cousin’s brother-in-law,  Mr. Hank, has gotten into whittling and has carved up a dozen pairs of wooden salad servers, which he is selling for $20 per set.  They are just gorgeous.  The diner bought them all,  6 to use for the table-side service and 6 to sell on a trial basis.  If they sell well, the diner will order more.

  • How much did the diner pay for 12 sets of salad servers?
    A)  $120     B)  $144     C)  $200     D)  $240
  • If the diner sells the sets of the remaining salad servers for $30 each, how many more sets of salad servers can they order from the profit?
    A)  3 sets     B)  9 sets     C)  12 sets     D)  1,000 sets
    (answers at bottom of post)

No Beige Here:  Orchestral Offerings – Three rambunctious, bold, imaginative pieces:

Bamboula, composed by New Orleans native, Louis Moreau Gottschalk in 1848.  First of all, the name:  a bamboula is a type of rum barrel drum as well as being a word one would want to say over and over.  This is a longish piano piece, but as we are getting used to it, we love it.  This is the exact recording we listen to – 

Cantina Band, composed by John Williams in 1977 for Star Wars IV.  Inventive, toe tapping, the ultimate quirky background music for the ultimate quirky bar scene –

The Wild Bears, composed in 1907  by Sir Edward Elgar as part of his “The Wand of Youth” suite.  This enchanting short piece transports us into the middle of a children’s raucous hide-and-seek activity.  The chaotic conclusion is perfection.  No beige here –

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  D)  $240 and A)  3 sets)

The Two-for-One Special

TWO QUIZZES!  That’s right, not just ONE, but TWO quizzes to test my son’s comprehension of current study endeavors (significant landmarks/animal investigations/the Netherlands).  Yay!  He scored 100%.  (answers at bottom of post)

The General Knowledge Quiz: 

1.  Who designed and oversaw construction of Mount Rushmore?
a)  Gustav Eiffel     b)  Frank Lloyd Wright     c)  Alexander Calder,  d)  Gutzon Borglum

2.  The arms (wicks) of windmills turn –
a)  clockwise     b)  counterclockwise  c)  either way depending upon wind direction

3.  Regarding the windmill communication system:  the resting placement of the windmill arms (wicks) can signal – 
a)  good news/bad news/windmill is broken/windmill is resting     b)  there is no such thing as a windmill communication system

4.  The number of bicycles recovered from the Amsterdam canals annually –
a)  100     b)  1,000     c)  10,000

5.  The reason San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge is painted orange –
a)   to stand out in the fog     b)  at the time of installation (1937), orange was the California governor’s wife’s favorite color     c)  it was the most affordable paint color that was closest to “gold”

6.  The Great Wall of China was built over the span of –
a)  2,000 years     b)  1,000 years     c)  50 years

7.  Today, the largest ships using the Panama Canal, pay tolls of up to – 
a)   $1 million      b)  $75,000     c)  $1,000
(Here is something fun: In 1928, writer and adventurer Richard Halliburton paid a toll of 36 cents to swim through the canal.)

8.  The largest mammal in South America –
a)  the giant anteater     b)  the capybara     c)  the tapir     d)  the brown throated sloth

9.  Birds have – 
a)  hollow bones     b)  gelatinous semi-soft bones     c)  titanium bones

10.  The only bird that can fly backwards –
a)  the hummingbird     b)  the owl     c)  the bluebird of happiness

The Great Lengths Quiz:  

1.  The length of the Golden Gate Bridge – 
a)  8 miles     b)  4.2 miles      c)   3.5 miles     d)  1.7 miles     

2.  The length of the Panama Canal
a)   50 miles     b)  45 miles     c)  25 miles     d)  10 miles

3.  From furthest point west to furthest point east, which is longer:  mainland United States or the Mediterranean Sea?  (hint:  one is 2,600 miles, the other is 2,400 miles)
a)   Mainland USA     b)  the Mediterranean Sea

4.  All things considered (because this is not one continuous structure), how long is the Great Wall of China?
a)  13,000 miles     b)  9,500 miles     c)  2,100 miles     d)  400 miles

5.  What is the approximate distance between Earth and the moon?
a)  500,000 miles     b)  240,000 miles     c)  10,000 miles     d)  250 miles

After all that test taking:   FUN FICTION READING – 

For a look at history:  Here Lies the Librarian, Richard Peck – a continually amusing peek into rural American life in the 1920’s:  home-made automobiles, romance, dirt roads, bad neighbors, and terrible-to-superb local library management.  

For provoking discussion:  Millicent Min – Girl Genius, Lisa Yee – Brilliant Millicent is 11, and taking a college level poetry class.  Written as a summer journal, short diary entries inform us that Millicent’s mom is forcing her join a volleyball team, Millicent finally has her first friend, Millicent is tutoring somebody who’s lack of academic commitment is driving her crazy.  We are sympathizing with this protagonist who has such a rocky time socializing.  Awwwww.

For relaxing/laughing/smiling:  Tom Gates: Five Star Stories,  Liz Pichon.  This is book number 21 in the series and we’ve read them all – the quality of the hilarious writing, the hilarious predicaments, the hilarious illustrations has not wavered.   At this point, the cast of characters feel like part of our family. Ms. Pichon:  KEEP WRITING!

     

Story Problem:  “2-for-the-price-of-1” at the local diner – Tuesday nights at the local diner are a bit slow, so an enticing “Tuesday Night Only” promotion is offered:  two manager’s specials (chicken pot pie and apple crisp) for the price of one.  If it’s not Tuesday, the price of this dinner is $15 per single order.  Last Tuesday 60 patrons ordered the manager’s special.  How much money did the special bring in?  If the manager’s special costs the diner $5 per order, how much profit did the diner realize? (answers at bottom of post)

Classical Music – How about a THREE-for-ONE special?  We listened to three completely different composition styles of Luigi Boccherini, cello virtuoso and composer (1743 – 1805).  Boccherini’s early years were spent as a  court musician in Vienna.  At age 27, Boccherini relocated, becoming a court musician for the Spanish royal family in Madrid (and remained in Spain for the rest of his life).  We wanted to hear 1) a Viennese-style piece, 2) a work influenced by the music of Madrid and 3) one of his cello-focused compositions.

The Minuet (movement 3) from Boccherini’s String Quintet in E major, composed in 1771 – this fussy, hummable, very “classical music” melody is instantly recognizable as it has been used in loads of films, TV shows, and video games –

The Fandango, from Boccherini’s Guitar Quintet No. 4 in D major, composed in 1798, shows the influence of the guitar music he was introduced to in Spain.  I do not think my son and I have listened to this less than 350 times; it was interesting the first time we heard it, it remains interesting.  We love this performance by the L.A. Guitar Quartet –

Cello Showcased – we know we should be extolling Boccherini’s well respected “Cello Concerto in B flat major”, and we did take a listen.  The concerto certainly flaunts a cellist’s skills.  However, what we love is Boccherini’s String Quintet No. 6 (also known as “Night Music of the Streets of Madrid”).  Movement 5, the Passa Calle, in which the cello carries the piece, is warm, full of local flavor, and we really cannot listen without swaying to the tempo –

Welcome to the best part of my day,
– Jane BH

General Knowledge Quiz Answers:

  1. d)  Gutzon Borglum
  2. b)  counterclockwise
  3. a)  good news, etc.
  4. c)  10,000 bikes
  5. a)  to stand out in the fog
  6. a)  2,000 years
  7. a)  $1 million
  8. c)  the tapir
  9. a)  hollow bones
  10. a)  the hummingbird

Great Lengths Quiz Answers:

  1. d)  1.7 miles
  2. a)  50 miles
  3. a)  mainland USA
  4. a)  13,000 miles
  5. b)  240,000 miles

(Story Problem Answers:  $450, $150)

Old Business, New Business, Funny Business

This meeting will now come to order.

Old business:

The chairman requests a report on the Clem and Clyde Reading Comprehension project: 

In the latest reading comp mini stories, fictional characters Clem and Clyde: 

– have learned to juggle – shown proficiency walking with stilts –

– purchased backpacks – painted their bedrooms – participated in a tractor race –

– ventured into the cat tending business – visited a caboose museum in Canada –  

I am continuing to provide a weekly edition of Clem and Clyde adventures and follow up questions. Independently, my son reads the stories and answers the questions.  Is he comprehending what he is reading?  YES!  A continuation of the reading comprehension project is recommended.

The chairman requests a report on the tracking of sharks off the east coast of the USA:  

We’ve been following a group of tagged sharks online at ocearch.org.  Seriously, this is quite entertaining.  Currently, the sharks have been circling the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada and are starting to head south to Florida.  We have a new favorite shark:  Breton.  While other tagged sharks seem to hug the coast of eastern USA, Breton is zigzagging all over the the Atlantic – he has even propelled himself over to the Sargasso Sea (which we studied in August, 2017 – view the “Sea Hunt” post for proof positive).  Breton is a scamp.  A continuation of our Monday night shark tracking is recommended.

The chairman requests a report on current re-reads – 

Surviving the Applewhites – I think this is our 4th time through Stephanie S. Tolan’s never-a-dull-moment treasure.  It is about school projects, an uncontrollable goat, the cuisine of India, “The Sound of Music”, but mostly it is about family and creative passion and personal transformation and it is continually funny.  We love this book and we will read it again.

Cheaper by the Dozen – My son and I seem to read this book about every other year, and as an educator, I benefit from the “pep talk” it delivers.  I am not sure I can summon the high energy that Frank Gilbreth put into teaching his 12 kids, but his rollicking, unconventional, brassy verve inspires me.  The book, published in 1948, was written by two of the Gilbreth children, Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.

It’s Halloween – My son and I read through Jack Prelutsky’s Halloween themed poem collection several times every October.  At this point, we know all the words to every poem.  This slender book is a welcomed part of our annual autumn experience.

New business:

The chairman requests a report on new books in the Cool School book basket:

Saving the Ghost of the Mountain – another engrossing journal by Sy Montgomery, documenting a research trip to to Mongolia (Mongolia!!! get the globe out) to track snow leopards.  These darn snow leopards are nigh impossible to find;  their pale spotted fur blends in too well with the surroundings.  By the end of the book, although it is clear that the research team was hiking in snow leopard territory, not one had been spotted (the heartbreak of research).  Nonetheless, this book was a pleasure to open every single night. If we couldn’t get up close and personal with a snow leopard we did become familiar with Mongolian ger housing and ibex goats (preferred gourmet treat for snow leopards).  

Amazing Rivers, by Julie Agnone, illustrations by Kerry Hydnman – so smartly put together, lovely illustrations.  This book covers more than 20 issues relating to rivers,  illustrating these topics with specific rivers of the world.  Maybe our favorite entry in this book:  the New Meuse River (Netherlands) hosts the world’s first FLOATING DAIRY!  It houses 40 cows, robots do the clean up, cow manure is recycled as fertilizer.  This is not our first river book, but it is the best.

Cable Cars of San Francisco – a favorite family member has recently moved to San Francisco and we are so patiently waiting for him to take a series of selfies on a cable car.  Is that too much to ask?  In the meantime, we have contented ourselves with the quick read through of “San Francisco Cable Car”, by Julie Murray.  A thin book with lots of really good photos (but not as good as a selfie from said favorite family member) and just enough information for us.

Key Player – 4th book in a series by Kelly Yang (we’ve previously read “Front Desk”, “Three Keys”, and “Room to Dream”).  We don’t love opening this book every night, because we know we are going to be confronted with some tough realities.  How about the tough reality of racism?  We are heartened to know there are role models, like brave protagonist, Mia.  Important book.

Funny business:

Tom Gates Epic Adventure – It is a happy day in our study room when we have a new Tom Gates book to laugh through.   Author Liz Pichon’s perfect ensemble cast, fabulous doodles, non-stop originality captivates us on every single page.  In this book, Tom desperately needs a haircut, is worried that he is the only one in class who isn’t invited to a birthday party, has to navigate between a family outing and the school “Tropical Disco”. I think we’ve read all 20 books in the series.

The chairman requests an unnecessarily complicated story problem:  

Big excitement!  The  local diner now offers a new item on the kids menu:  “Spell-a-Lunch”.  To place an order, kid customers must create a 5 letter word from the diner’s alphabet menu. The lunch plate will thusly be filled. 

A – apple slices     B – burger     C – carrots ’n’ celery     D – dill pickles    
E – egg salad sandwich     F – fries     G – grilled cheese     H – hot dog    
I – ice cream sandwich     J – jello     K – ketchup     L – lemonade     M – mini raisin box     N – nachos     O – olives     P – peanut butter sandwich     Q – quesadilla    
R – radishes ’n’ ranch dressing     S – sugar snap peas     T – tomato juice    
U – upside down cake     V – vanilla wavers     W – watermelon chunks    
X – extra napkins     Y – yogurt     Z – zucchini bread

For example:
If the child orders a “SHARK” lunch, the plate will offer (S) sugar snap peas, (H) a hot dog, (A) apple slices, (R) radishes with ranch dressing, and (K) ketchup.

– What will be on the lunch plate if the kid orders:
The “FANCY” Lunch?
The “CLIMB” lunch?

– Now for the arithmetic part of the story problem: 

1).  If the “Spell-a-Lunch” concept is a gigantic hit, and the diner sells 50 a week, how much will the diner profit at the end of a year, if each “Spell-a-Lunch” costs the diner $3, and the diner sells each lunch for $7.  

2).  At the end of a year, will there be enough profit money for the diner to donate $1,000 to the local elementary school library? (answers at bottom of post)

To conclude the meeting, the chairman requests a few short and funny orchestral pieces:

  • “Banjoland Buffoonery” –  from Grant Kirkhope’s music score for the the 2008 video game, Banjo-Kazooie:  Nuts & Bolts.  A variety of instruments get their spotlight moment in Kirkhope’s zippy composition, making it easy for my son to recognize the sounds of the bassoon, clarinet, flute, oboe, and I think xylophone.  Boisterously performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. 

  • “The Clog Dance”, from the comic ballet, La Fille Mal Gardée (essentially, The Poorly Supervised Young Lady), composed by Ferdinand Hérold in 1828.  We have been smiling over this bit of music (via iPod) for a few months, and when I showed my son this video clip he was entranced.  The ballet’s basic premise:  young girl in the French countryside has found true love in the handsome Colas, but her widowed mother  (traditionally played by a large man) wishes her to marry the Alain (think village idiot), son of the village’s wealthiest citizen.  The “Clog Dance” hilariously puts the widowed mother front and center.  BTW, the costuming in this production:  charming.

  • “The Typewriter” – yes, yes, yes, we know, all sorts of people have no idea what a typewriter is these days, but can one put together a list of humorous orchestral pieces without including Leroy Anderson’s out-of-left-field composition of 1950, “The Typewriter” ?  No.  Using the typewriter as percussion was inspired AND funny!

This meeting has been adjourned.
Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(Story problem answers:  
The “FANCY” lunch – fries, apple slices, nachos, carrots ’n’ celery, yogurt
The “CLIMB” lunch – carrots ’n’ celery, lemonade, ice cream sandwich, mini raisin box, burger
1).  $10,400  and 2).  the diner can easily afford to donate $1,000)

Been Here Awhile

4.5 billion years – Earth. Yeah, it has been here awhile.  My son and I are currently entranced by photos of Earth taken by UK astronaut, Tim Peake, presented in his book “Hello, Is This Planet Earth?  My View from the International Space Station”.  

Our favorite photos:  

    

  1. the dazzling night time photo of Italy…I don’t know why this shocked us, but from space, the shape of Italy looks exactly how it looks on our globe.
  2. the cartoony, loopy route of the Amazon River

Before we gazed at the photos we got firm with a few facts:   

  • The moon is approximately 240,000 miles from Earth
  • Low Earth Orbit (LEO to those in the know) – is anything that circles the Earth within an altitude of 1,200 miles from Earth 
  • The International Space Station orbits at an altitude of approximately 220 miles above the Earth, well within LEO
  • the ISS circles the Earth 16 times a day – the photographer’s opportunity for “the perfect shot” is minuscule (this book represents a lot of planning)

250 million years – Crocodiles.  Yeah, they have been here awhile.  We’ve just finished Owen Davey’s “Curious about Crocodiles” (graphics:  A++).  But, oh dear, crocodiles.  Everything about them is bad news.  My son and I mused over this:  what if we were crocodiles and the only good thing anybody could say about us was that we help regulate populations of other species by preying on them? 

35 million years – Squirrels.  Yeah, they have been here a while.  We decided to learn more about squirrels since we have been glaring at one (“Dennis”, our own personal backyard menace) every single day since we installed our bird feeder.  We are picking and choosing our reading topics in the Thorington/Ferrell book, “Squirrels, The Animal Answer Guide”.   Sad fact:  only 25% of squirrels make it to their first birthday party.  The rest provide banquet fare for ever so many larger animals.  From what we’ve read, those who make it past their first birthday can be found congregating around bird feeders.

200,000 years – Man.  New kid on the block.  Let’s just admit that we don’t stand a chance against crocodiles and squirrels. 

    

17,000 years ago – Cave Paintings of Lascaux.  Yeah, these have been here awhile.  We did a quick internet study of the breathtaking, graceful drawings of horses, bulls, and deer found in the French caves.  This inspired our new Read ’n’ Draw project:  once a week I give my son drawing paper that has been divided into 4 squares.  Atop each square is a noun (like arrow, question mark, cat head, snail, stop sign, Saturn).   Without me saying the word aloud, my son has to draw a picture of the noun.  A fun, satisfying activity, with results so close to being breathtaking and graceful.

These books have been around awhile – recent fiction re-visits: 

  • from 1958, Mary Nash’s “While Mrs. Coverlet was Away”.  We read this every August and we love every theme (self reliance, cats, vitamins, neighbors) in this fun, original work.  Maybe the best overlooked part is found in chapter 15;  a captivating account of “turtling” at the local slough…by the end of of this descriptive narrative we feel as sweaty, sunburned, muddy as the book’s characters – an afternoon well spent.
  • from 1941, Holling C. Holling’s (we pause to consider the author’s name)(sorry, we are that immature) “Paddle to the Sea”.  This is our second time through this poetic and observant journey through the Great Lakes, and we are focusing on the geography aspects.

The Local Diner – Yeah, it has been here awhile.  A story problem to elucidate:  One of the busboys was rummaging around the diner attic and found a chest filled with old menus.  The diner called in designer, “Miss Jane”, who selected a menu from 1920, 1930, 1950, and 1960 to frame and install near the entrance of the diner.  The designer said she would be able to frame the menus in jazzy retro “diner style” colors for $80 each.  But the diner accountant, “Mr. Tom”, said that he could frame the menus with supplies from the local mega art store for $25 each.  

– If diner management selects Miss Jane to frame the menus (which really is the best idea), how much more will they spend on the project, than they would if Mr. Tom’s plan was put into action?
a)  $25     b)  $80     c)  $180     d)  $220

– If Mr. Tom is directed to purchase the cheapo frames, and the frames fall apart after one year and have to be replaced, this time using Miss Jane’s framing services, how much will the diner have spent to have the menus framed twice?
a)  $150     b)  $420     c)  $575     d)  $1,000      (answers at bottom of post)

Classical Music Corner – The Symphony  – Yeah, it has been here awhile.  Franz Joseph Haydn composed from the mid-to-late 1700’s and created a 4-movement template for symphony construction that has been used by a majority of composers to this day.  Cheers for Haydn’s organizational skills!  Cheers for the following Haydn compositions:

1785 – Symphony # 83 in G minor, known to all as “La Poule” (the hen), movement 4.  Jaunty, happy, sort of fussy-precise…this is the piece where we can hear bits of “Pop Goes the Weasel” –

1787 – Symphony #88 in G major, movement 4.  We refer to this as “Busy Bugs”.  Who can hear this and not envision jillions of ladybugs on roller skates?  This piece flies!  We came across this movement about a month ago and have listened to it about 15 times.  My son LOVES it – 

1791 – Symphony #94 in G major known to all as “Surprise Symphony”, movement 2, this performance conducted by one of our favorites, Mariss Jansons.  We wait in anticipation for the mighty boom (about a half minute into the piece) – 

Welcome to the best part of my day,
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  d) $220 and  b) $420)